Topeka ? Gov. Mark Parkinson on Monday defended the state’s system of supervising higher education in the wake of an audit that found numerous questionable financial dealings at Kansas State University.

Since release of the audit June 19, some lawmakers have said the state must monitor state universities more closely.

In Kansas, the nine-member Board of Regents oversees the state’s six state universities, including Kansas University, and provides general oversight of 19 community colleges, Washburn University and six technical schools.

In many states, major universities have their own governing boards while there is a statewide coordinating board.

But on Monday, Gov. Mark Parkinson defended Kansas’ system of administering higher education, and said he saw no reason to change it.

“When a problem exists and people think that you need to throw everything out that you’ve had that’s good and start completely over, that’s where you usually get into trouble,” Parkinson said.

“When a problem exists, you fix the problem, and then you move on, and I think we’ve fixed the problem through audits,” he said.

The regents had ordered audits as “exit analyses” at KSU, KU and Pittsburg State University because all three chief executives at those institutions were stepping down. But after the KSU audit was released, the regents decided to order audits at the remaining regents universities, which include Wichita State University, Emporia State University and Fort Hays State University.